Introduction

Whichever primary school test your child has coming up whether it be the 11 Plus, or SATs, it’s important that they feel confident and prepared for the big day. In this post, we outline our top revision tips for primary school children.

Start Revising Early

There’s no substitute for beginning a revision programme early. The sooner your child starts revising, the more material they’ll be able to cover before the exam. For the 11 Plus and SATs exams, it can be beneficial to start revising as far away as 6 months prior to the test.

Create a Revision Timetable

When it comes to revising at primary school, having a structured plan in place can make all the difference. Try to agree a study timetable with your child, half an hour every other night can be all it takes to improve your child’s confidence. A revision timetable can be as simple as an Excel spreadsheet or a handwritten table displayed in your child’s bedroom.

Find a Stimulating Place to Revise

It’s important that your child has a quiet place they can go to revise. Trying to get work done when surrounded by distractions of TV, the internet and other family members can be very challenging, especially for children of primary school age. Try to find a space at home where your child can revise uninterrupted for half an hour so.

Revise Little and Often

The average attention span of a 10-year-old is around 30 minutes, any longer and they start to get distracted and demotivated. When it comes to creating a revision timetable, make sure that you limit revision to half an hour at a time.

Record Revision Notes

An effective and fun way to revise is the have your child read their revision notes out loud into a voice recorder or mobile phone. Your child can then listen back to the recordings during revision time or in the lead up to the exam.

Try Some Revision Games

Let’s face it, when you’re at primary school, revising is boring, so why not make it more interesting with some revision games? We’ve already written an article about revision games for primary kids, which includes games like Teacher Roleplay and Revision Snap.

Stay Positive

Revising at primary school can feel daunting. If there’s a lot of material to cover, your child can sometimes feel overwhelmed at the amount of work they have to do. By breaking each task down into small, manageable chunks and staying positive, your child will learn the material more effectively and feel more resourceful leading up to the test.

Use Practice Exam Papers

Exam practice papers for primary school kids are a great way to prepare your child for an exam. At Exam Papers Plus, we have practice tests for the 7 Plus, all the way up to 13 Plus level. Not only do practice papers help familiarise your child with the layout of the exam, but they can be a great way to improve your child’s time management skills.

Stick Revision Notes Around Your House

Visual aids are a great tool for revising. All you need is some post-it notes with buzz words or formulas written on them to help job your child’s memory of their revision material. You can also test your child with revision notes by asking them to explain them verbally in more detail.

Do the Hard Stuff First

Children are at their most alert when they first start a revision session, so it makes sense to start revising the most difficult subjects first. Once the challenging parts are out of the way, your child will see the rest of their revision time as more enjoyable and will be more likely to retain the information they’re studying.

So, there you have it, our top revision tips for primary school children. If your child has a test coming up soon, try some of these techniques to mix things up a bit. And best of luck for the big day.

Related Post:

How to Study for the 11 Plus Exam